Should Have Let Me Die

We made it around the mountain and to the spot we planned on stopping. I was playing a game of go fish with some of the girls at the main table. One of the elves, Elsa, was able to create paper and paper-like products with writing on them, so I got her to make me a couple decks of cards after explaining the cards to create.

"Got a two of spades?" Kyra asked Nina.

Nina screwed up her face with disappointment and handed the card over. One of the hardest things when teaching this game was to get the girls to play honestly. It seemed that all of the ones that wanted to play were very competitive, but Kyra was unnaturally good at a game that ran mostly on chance, according to what I knew.

"Got a jack of clubs?" Kyra turned to me to ask.

"Yup."

I handed over the card, and that was Kyra's final one, making her the winner now, for the eighth time in a row. She asked if they wanted to play again, but I said that was enough since supper was likely to be ready soon, and we needed to go help Berth and Buddy with setting up everything. Nina, Kalita, and Mishka all signed with relief and got up to follow me down the stairs to the ground.

Once down there, I could already see Breth in his turret position. He glared at anyone that paused to even breathe. His glare made them suck the breath back in and run to fetch more furniture. I had expected to see Buddy helping, so I went to go ask Breth what was up.

"Mesh asked for him to help secure the perimeter. They are over there with the other Kin races."

Breth was pointing to the group, so I asked the girls to help Breth out while I went to see what was going on. I agreed that having a perimeter guard was good, but why now? I walked over to them and signaled to Mesh and Buddy to talk to me instead of talking amongst them.

The two noticed em and marched over, pounding fist to their chests and standing iron board straight. I motioned for them to relax, and both dropped their hands. Buddy was acting more like Mesh now, which wasn't a bad thing, better than staring at the scenery. I asked them about my concerns about the guards and the perimeter being only set up now.

"I found a body. A human with deep claw marks and his face eaten off."

Buddy explained this with little to no emotion, but I think I would be the same way if I had found that. Nah, fuck that, I would not be that calm.

"What killed the person?"

"With the claws and the area we are in, it would have to be Tigerfolk. There has been news of them raiding human settlements and killing everyone. The problem with them is they hunt weaker prey, human or folk. The leader, Shahair, is a cruel beast that only enjoys killing when the prey flees him. The stories that surround him and the other Tigerfolk are almost as bad as the humans."

Mesh seemed to know quite a bit about these cats. So the tribes must have had a run-in with them in the past. Buddy was looking into the trees, so I followed his line of sight, and my breath caught.

Standing deep in the trees, maybe thirty feet from us, was the form of an orange and black tiger-like man. I was instantly on guard when I locked eyes with it. Even at this distance, I could feel the killing intent.

"Harmonie!"

Harmonie came over to me from the tables they were helping with. The tiger hadn't moved, and I kept my eyes locked with it.

"Can you see what I'm looking at? Take a rock and knock the fur off that bastard, would ya? I don't want to kill it yet, but it is looking at us like we are the prey, and that's not right. Show him who the pray is!"

Harmonie reached into their pocket and pulled out a small rock. Harmonie didn't even pull an arm back to throw the stone. Instead, they flicked it. I watched the tiger's instant reaction, but no land-based monster was faster than MACH three.

As the beast turned to flee, it was blown off its feet like a leaf into the air. The shot also blew 2 others out f hiding, but they were only partially stunned and fled immediately. The one-hit directly was not so lucky.

Mesh sent out men to retrieve the Tigerfolk, and I clapped my hands to activate my magic. It didn't take long to drag back the unconscious and partially hairless cat. Harmonie had done just as I asked, so I turn to them and had to ask while fist-bumping.

"How do I refer to you? Like as in gender? In the world I come from, people got very sensitive about the labels placed on them. So, do I call you she or he? I have been referring to you and they and them in my mind."

"Hmmm? I guess she, I mean, that's what I really want, and you have brought me to the edge of the change. I don't think I have ever thanked you since the day in the forest. Even though it wasn't long ago, I still feel like I have been living like this forever. Thanks"

"Well, you are a crack shot Miss, couldn't have asked for better results! I'm glad the other two got away. They will carry the message back to the shitty kitty leader and warn him to stay the fuck away from us."

"What are we going to do with this one then?" Mesh asked, staring at the hairless cat-man.

"Oh, come on, do I even have to tell you? These idiots have been brainwashed by Shit Hair, so we will unwash this dumbasses brain and have a representative when the time comes to face these guys, and that will happen. The fact that they are so close and what you told me about their tendencies makes me think that the village ahead might be in trouble or is already down for."

I stood for a moment, thinking. That's precisely what was going on, but had the tigers attacked already? Nah, they wouldn't have sent a scout out this way after attacking. They would have just left. This might be the thing I was looking for the help change the views of this world or at least this village.

I looked up from my thought, and I locked eyes with Buddy, and he just nodded, running over to Breth, and soon everything was getting pack back up faster than it came out. How the fuck did he know what I was thinking? Maybe that was part of the existential evolution? He was smart enough to catch my train of thought without even using words. Now that was some crazy shit!

I turned to Mesh, but he still looked as confused as the other Kin soldiers.

"We are packing up and heading to that village now! Quickly! And I want him brought up top with four guards on the House-Wagon. Got it?"

Mesh pounds his chest, and a thunder of the rest of the Kin's fist striking their chests reverberated. I turned and saw Alex and Kadence rushing over to me. I was momentarily distracted by the dancing melons but was able to pull my shit together before they got to me.

"What's going on? Buddy has everyone packing up on your orders!"

"I need you and Kadence to get up top and be ready to leave. We also need to be ready for a fight. We just caught a Tigerfolk that looked like he was going to attack, but two others escaped."

"Ugh, those bastards!" Kadence cursed, and I was drawn to the foul words from her pretty mouth, but I didn't have the time to gush over her words.

"Yes, so let's get up top so we can deal with the one we have and maybe get some insight when I turn him to our side."

"Yes, Master!" Both said before leaving.

This was about to get violent. I just hoped we could make it in time. All the people of this world couldn't be bad, so I couldn't just let these misguided fools die.